I’d be lying if I said I’ve been an avid reader of Cadence magazine. I did have a subscription for a couple of years, but the volume of material in the densely packed monthly was overwhelming, and my subscription kept lapsing due to my own disorganization.
Cadence is important, though. The sheer volume of reviews is actually a good thing, because it creates a library of short notices about every type of jazz imaginable, from the most staid torch-song album to edge-walking abstract improvisation. Their (formerly) monthly list of newly arrived CDs was a good resource in itself.
Even more important are the long-form interviews, sources of so much oral history and so much philosophizing about music.
It’ll all be missed. Now a quarterly, Cadence is reportedly ready to call it quits at the end of 2011. Sibling businesses, such as the Cadence and C.I.M.P. record labels, will thankfully live on.
Well, now I feel guilty. As I said, I haven’t been a reader for some time, and the portable hole that is The Internet easily saps whatever time used to go to scouring Cadence. Of course, that’s exactly the problem.
Whether Cadence‘s retirement is real or not (I haven’t seen any verification beyond the message-board post linked above), I’ll be scouring their back-issue list to catch up on some of those interviews. I suggest you do the same. They’re great food for the mind.
The whole Cadence empire can be found at http://cadencebuilding.com.
Memory Select: Journeys in Creative Music 